Don't Be a Coward

On the way back to the Rogue Encampment, Yinsen was in pain and bliss.

What delighted him was that he had finally learned the basic combat skills he had always wanted to study from this necromancer, whose official title was Priest of the Rathma Cult.

What pained him was Zul's simple and brutal teaching method. Aside from teaching him some basic movements and ways to exert force at the beginning, the daily lessons consisted of sparring—or rather, one-sided beatings.

In Zul's words, Yinsen did not need to consider how to effectively injure enemies at this stage. Instead, he needed to learn how to protect himself amid attacks like a raging storm, then find opportunities to deliver fatal counterattacks while defending.

"It isn't realistic to improve your physical fitness and combat skills in a short time. For now, just focus on staying alive."

Zul said this after beating Yinsen up again. And with that final "sparring session," even a short road came to an end no matter how slowly they walked. The two finally arrived at the Rogue Encampment.

The Rogue guards at the entrance knew Yinsen. They did not give Zul, whom Yinsen had brought back, much trouble either. Especially after Zul said he had come at Isendra's request to deal with the rapidly growing Dark Energy, the Rogues gave him a warm welcome.

"The Rogues are a branch of the Amazons. Their Combat Power is formidable. I never expected even them to be suppressed by the Dark Forces to the point where they were hoping for a savior."

The Rogues were not in good condition. Their morale appeared decent enough, but as the days passed and Dark Energy grew stronger, they had fewer and fewer options. All they could do was passively hold their camp every day. Under these circumstances, they no longer possessed the same spirit they had at the start, when they dared to fight demons head-on to the death.

"It seems we need to deal with Andariel as soon as possible. I don't know whether killing her can completely eliminate the problem of surging Dark Energy, but it can at least ease the situation in this region... Once that powerful demon is dead and the Dark Energy recedes, these Rogues should be able to handle ordinary Dark Creatures. That should restore some of their morale as well."

Zul was a man of action. Once he thought of something, he did it. He immediately asked where Isendra was, practically itching to team up with her and take down the boss, Andariel.

Isendra was also in the camp at the time, waiting for Zul's arrival. The two met quickly and immediately began discussing the extermination of the Dark Creatures.

Compared with Zul's plan to charge straight at Andariel, Isendra said they first needed to clear out the Dark Creatures nearby, especially the minions Andariel had deliberately stationed there.

"Especially the Den of Evil. Based on my observations, a large number of Dark Creatures have gathered there recently. None of them are particularly powerful, but their growing numbers are still a huge threat. If we ignore them, they may very well destroy this camp."

"The Rogue Encampment is practically the last human settlement with any fighting strength in this area. Even if we kill Andariel, we'll still need the Rogues to clear the Dark Creatures from the entire region... So we must eliminate the potential threat posed by the Den of Evil."

Zul nodded, agreeing with Isendra's plan. "You're right. Let's clear out the surrounding area first. It shouldn't take much time, since there are three of us."

"Three?"

Isendra froze for a moment and blinked. Only then did she notice Yinsen, who had been standing quietly to the side. "You mean... Yinsen?"

This time, Zul was the one who froze. "Isn't he a companion in the fight against the Dark Forces?"

Only then did Isendra understand what Zul had misunderstood. She smiled and shook her head. "No. He can help with some things, but he hasn't even touched the threshold of basic magic yet. It wouldn't be appropriate for him to fight Dark Creatures now."

"All right, then there are only the two of us."

"Don't worry. The increasingly powerful Dark Energy will alert many groups. I believe more and more companions will appear before long."

Hearing that, Yinsen thought of the paladins, barbarians, and Amazons, as well as the druids and assassins who joined later. The first three, together with the two before him, would become the heroes who defeated Diablo and Baal once again.

However, it seemed he would not get to meet those people. He had taken some time earlier to calculate it. He had already spent more than twenty days in this world, and in just a few more days, he would leave the Diablo World and return to that strange ocean.

The goals he had set at the beginning had basically been achieved. Not only had he learned how to construct Magic Arrays, but he had also obtained a Spellbook that recorded the principles and methods of using basic spells. He had learned how to make basic Magic Potions, how to use Mental Power to distinguish the properties of herbs, and basic close-quarters combat.

He had firmly committed all of this to memory. His enhanced memory had once again provided tremendous help. For the things he had not had time to memorize, he had obtained books that he could continue studying after he returned.

It could be said that this trip to Diablo had yielded enormous gains. As long as Yinsen persevered, his strength would steadily improve. Since the fields he had studied were diverse and could promote one another, he would not encounter any so-called bottleneck anytime soon.

"Next, it's time to pick up the equipment I ordered earlier."

Before leaving the Rogue Encampment to search for Zul, he had used the reward money he had earned during that time to ask Charsi, the camp's blacksmith, to make him a small piece of equipment.

In fact, Charsi had finished forging what he wanted on the second day after he left the camp, because it was really just a small tool: two lightweight Bracers, each with a small mechanism on the Outer Side that could fire three short arrows roughly ten centimeters long.

Before having them forged, he had specifically asked Kashya about the trick the Rogues used to attach magic to arrows before firing them. After much thought and constant revisions, he had finally completed the final design with Isendra's help, then asked Charsi to forge the actual item.

What he received from Charsi was still only a semi-finished product. For now, they were merely ordinary Bracers capable of firing a total of six short arrows.

After receiving them, Yinsen still needed to personally inscribe Magic Arrays in the prearranged sections inside the Bracers. It was a meticulous and tedious task, and he only had this one pair. If a major failure ruined them, he would have no chance to make another pair.

Yinsen was highly focused. Not only had he adjusted himself to his best condition beforehand, but he had also put up a large sign outside his tent: Please Do Not Disturb.

Only after confirming that everything was ready did Yinsen begin slowly inscribing the Magic Arrays he had designed long ago.

By inscribing Magic Arrays onto equipment, recording specific spells within them, and activating them with Mental Power, one could achieve the effect of casting magic.

This was the protective tool Yinsen had prepared for himself.

The concept was not complicated. He had merely broken down the steps a mage took to cast magic, reducing everything a mage could do on their own until only the most basic task remained: triggering it with Mental Power.

The magical power would be supplied by several magic stones Yinsen carried with him.

For ease of use, Yinsen had also added a mana-storage stage to the Magic Array. This way, he only needed to channel the power from the magic stones into the array during his free time and store it in advance. It prevented him from mounting the magic stones directly on the Bracers and adding another piece of "hardware," while also removing a step for drawing mana and saving time when activating the spell.

The shaping and casting of the magic were all completed automatically by the Magic Array. The advantage was that it required no thought; the disadvantage was that everything was preset, including both power and speed.

To compensate for his weak magical power and the crude Magic Array, Yinsen had no choice but to add physical projectiles to increase its lethality. That was why he added the short arrows—or rather, the Wrist Crossbow—and specifically sought Kashya's advice on how to attach magic to arrows.

When they were finally completed, the two Bracers became Magic Equipment capable of firing six Fire Arrows.

The equipment had no manual mechanism. Yinsen had spent considerable effort designing the arrow-firing mechanism to activate through Mental Power. It could be said that this equipment had to be used with Mental Power, which effectively made it his Exclusive Equipment—those whose Mental Power control was sufficiently strong would not care for it, while those who wanted it lacked enough Mental Power to control it.

"This thing kind of feels like something a woman would use."

After working all night, Yinsen was extremely happy to have successfully designed and created his first piece of Magic Equipment. He deliberately ignored the faint jab that rose from the depths of his heart.

After putting on the pair of Bracers and testing their weight and whether they hindered his movements, Yinsen carefully organized the items on his body. He also took out several special potions he had made earlier and placed them in the small pouch behind him.

After fastening his shortsword at his waist and hanging his shield where he could grab it at any time, Yinsen left his tent and went straight to find Isendra.

Although he had worked through the night and expended some energy, Yinsen had recovered after resting for a while. He had continued all kinds of training during this period, and both his physical fitness and Mental Power had reached a new level.

After assessing his current condition, he made an important decision: he would go with Isendra and Zul to the Den of Evil and clear out the Dark Creatures entrenched there.

"With two powerful teammates like Zul and Isendra, if I don't even dare face a group of the weakest Dark Creatures, what prospects could I possibly have in the future?"

Who knew what kinds of worlds he would travel to in the future, or what kinds of monsters he would face? Could he expect to hide somewhere safe and gather resources every time? Who knew what he might encounter in the Ocean World? Could he guarantee that everyone he encountered in the future would be ordinary people?

"I may have been a little scared before, but when it's time to charge, I can't hesitate! No question about it—I'm doing this!"